Your Grrrs: July 19, 2005

Lewis from Atlanta: A clue to the Left-Lane Obliviots on the highways: If you're not going faster than the traffic to your right, get to the right yourself! It won't hurt you, and it will keep other drivers from having to weave through traffic to pass you. It will also help save us all from road-rage. Nothing irritates me more as a driver than having to change two or three lanes across the interstate to pass a wall of cars two or three abreast, driving at exactly the same speed. Why can't you get behind each other!? One more thing: if you're going 45 mph when you merge with the highway from the on-ramp, you're endangering the traffic behind you.

Damon in Knoxville, Tenn.: What is the deal with werenotafraid.com? I understand the importance of remaining strong in the face of terror attacks, but I do not understand the point of this Web site. Mocking and taunting are not ways to deal with terrorists. These people are ruthless, cold-blooded murderers. They do not care if someone is afraid or not (or how good their Photoshop skills may be). They will continue murdering, regardless. I think that someone coming to your home and blowing you up is a perfectly good thing to be afraid of. Furthermore, I think that it is a perfectly good reason to take action. Something needs to be done about the terrorists, and I do not think it can be accomplished with cute pictures and clever sayings.

Lisa in Cyberspace: I agree with this quote in the July 14, 2005, column and it reminded me of something that has upset me for some time. At the end of a movie, they split the screen, which distorts the letters, and/or roll the credits so fast you cannot read them just to cram in more commercials. GRRR! I may be in the minority, but I like to read through the credits at the end. Many times my husband and I have just watched a movie and have guessed at an actor's name wanting to confirm it at the end. It is also interesting to read the producers, musicians, stunt men names, etc.

Darrell in Atlanta, Ga.: Right on with your comments on TV promotional graphics popping up incessantly in the middle of our favorite shows and movies. It was annoying when it first started, but now they have gotten to the point where they take up a third to half of the screen AND have dialogue and sound effects (never mind that we'd like to hear the dialogue on the movie we tuned in to watch). Graphic ads such as these virtually guarantee that I will NOT watch whatever they are advertising.

Tim in Cyberspace: My Grrr is the TV news anchor that uses an acronym and then immediately says what the acronym is. For example, today the news guy talked about a roadside explosion in Iraq from an IED and immediately said, Improvised Explosive Device. Why use the acronym? Grrrrrr!

Trysta in Washington: I am at my wit's end. Yesterday, a complete Oblivion found her spot in front of me on the freeway. She was driving 60 mph in when I entered onto the 70-mph freeway. I couldn't get around her because there was a semi in the lane next to me, so I honked my horn. When she didn't speed up or respond, I honked four more times to get her attention. You don't have to be in the left lane to be a left-lane vigilante. She never once looked in her rear view mirror to see who was honking. This woman was the most oblivious ... of any driver I have experienced on the road as of late. That was only the beginning. Last night my husband and I went for a long walk. On our way home it was dark and there was a car parked on the sidewalk we were walking on. At night in the dark I don't want to be forced to walk on the street. This person was a total Obliviot and if it wasn't a neighbor I may have expressed my frustration in a way other than through this forum.

Joy from Dayton, Ohio: The story I just read regarding Mark R. Davis Jr., a "coach" for youth baseball in Uniontown, Pa., is disgusting, turns my stomach and fills me with rage. GRRR!!! How can these precious bubble-wrapped children of our society learn the rules of fair play if their own coach pays them to literally target disabled teammates?? I only wish there had been some mention (in the report) as to the charges the pitcher who struck that poor child (TWICE, NOT JUST ONCE!) was going to face. BAN THE BRAT who took $25 to eliminate that child from playing. I hope Uniontown, Pa., police charge the parents of that BRAT with negligence and have the entire clan be made to perform community service with handicapped and disabled children and adults. Oh no, not keeping score isn't a problem, parents having fistfights over Little League games aren't a problem, but at the end of the season all the little twerps STILL get a trophy for "participation." If this is an example of participation, I am thankful I have no children. Thanks for letting me get this frustration out. I weep for that child who was hurt and for their family.

Rabova in Cyberspace: Don't you just hate drivers who stay in the left-hand lane and clog traffic, even though the right lane is clear? Isn't the left lane for passing? Don't these people have a clue that there are others trying to use the road? It doesn't belong to the inconsiderate drivers, it belongs to all of us! So why be so obnoxious?

— Because they're Left Lane Vigilantes. See the Grrr! Lexicon.

Sheri in Cyberspace with her GRRRR on doctor's appointments: I agree with you — what's up in the doctor's office when you arrive at their appointed time and then sit and wait? But here's one better. There's a dentist office in Champaign, Ill., that if you are even but a few minutes late for your appointment, they turn you away. But here's the deal: Even when you are there a few minutes early, you still have to wait 30 minutes on the doctor! So you can miss the appointed time and be turned away, but you can't complain if the doctor misses his appointed time with you!

Jim in Cyberspace: Hey, Mike. I love your column. My problem is with politicians — primarily with Democrats whose feelings seem to get hurt so easily these days. It seems that whenever someone says something that a politician doesn't agree with, he/she immediately demands an apology! I am so sick of it! Grow up, you narcissistic babies! Not everyone is going to agree with your views, so shut up your little baby whining! Grrrrrrrr!!!!

Rhonda in Cyberspace: My newest Grrr — stores (Wal-Mart in this instance) that require me to enter my real zip code before approving a credit card transaction. I tried cancel, which cancelled the transaction, I tried entering a valid zip code, which resulted in a denial of credit (by Wal-Mart, not AmEx. I know, because at that point I left the $90 worth of stuff and walked away. I then bought the same stuff at the local grocery store 2 miles away, with the same credit card and had no problem). In these days when identity theft is such an issue, the last thing I need to be doing with my credit card is providing more personal information during the transaction.

Kim in Cyberspace: This Grrrr goes out to those people who constantly complain about cell phone users when they are clueless as to the need for that person's communication. While in a restaurant, I received a call from a relative that was great news about another relative in the hospital. Life and death? No, but our family had agreed to call everyone to relieve our fears as soon as possible. The crappy comments from persons at the neighboring table resulted in the waitress going all out to express her best wishes and prayers for my cousin and our family. The "meanies" were properly embarrassed and hopefully learned the lesson that not all cell-phone users are cretins.

Edie in Cyberspace: My “Grrr!” has to do with the news ticker that moves from right to left at the very bottom of the TV screen on news networks. It seemed to have started on Sept. 11. Before I knew it, every major news cable outlet had it. It got old fast. Now other local news outlets are starting to implement it. And to top it all off, there are misspelled words in the news ticker. Can’t they find an editor who can spell? It moves relentlessly across the screen, day after annoying day. There is no way to shut it off. I think I’ll go buy some black construction paper and clear tape and cover the bottom of my screen!! Next thing I know they’ll have it during commercials and then during the movies and programs themselves.

Martin in Cyberspace: This is in response to Tiffany who mentioned the driver with the "Jesus" bumper sticker who littered by throwing trash outside his window. I am a Christian who has seen that act myself and it frustrates me. Plus, I once saw a truck with some kind of firemen's association sticker and a license plate frame with the same firemen's association on it. The driver then flicked a lit cigarette out his window and we were in Southern California at the time. I have enormous respect for firefighters, so I was completely dismayed by this sight. Unfortunately, he was going about 75 mph in a 55 zone so I didn't dare try to catch up and explain the public affairs disaster he could have created.

Angelain Cyberspace: I was perusing the DVDs and CDs in my local Target the other day when a nearby woman's cell phone started ringing VERY LOUDLY. I realized that the phone was clipped to the outside of her purse and that's why it was so loud. Here's where it gets interesting. Apparently, she decided not to pick up her phone. Rather than silencing the ringer after one ring, like any sane and courteous person would do, she proceeded to let it ring and ring and ring until the person on the other end hung up. And do you think she noticed all the looks she was getting from everyone around her? Heck no! She just kept right on shopping! Classic Oblivion! Grrrr!

Tracy H. in Cyberspace: My GRRR is over parents who use their children's strollers as battering rams. I live in an area that is overpopulated and congested with people. When I go to the mall, I live in fear for the back of my legs. I wait patiently for the people in front of me to move on from store to store. There is ALWAYS a man or woman with a stroller who feels the need to get right behind me and edge closer and closer with that blasted stroller. Finally, I stop and move out of the way before the battering ram takes out my calves. There IS NO "fast lane" at the mall. And don't get me started on parades or other outdoor activities ... no one is safe from the dreaded stroller. Your job must be very cathartic. I know "I" feel better. :)

Mike Straka is the director of operations and special projects for FOXNews.com, and covers entertainment and features on the Sunday program "FOX Magazine." He also writes the weekly Grrr! Column and hosts "The Real Deal" video segments on FOXNews.com.